


Twenty-Two Short Stories About Springfield

by mrdeanman



Category: The Simpsons
Genre: I forgot how to properly tag things, bear with me!, hi guys, hope sam and larry come up as characters properly, how's it goin, i haven't used this site in almost 2 years and forgot i even had an account here so., if i am like not doing stuff right nyuk nyuk nyuk!, without having to be counted as OCs or something LOL!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:27:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22066264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrdeanman/pseuds/mrdeanman
Summary: Little collection of whatever short little Simpsons things I write updated whenever I feel like writing 'em! May end up with more than twenty-two stories or may end up with less. Hi guys.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Sam and Larry were friends.  
Sam and Larry had known each other a long time.  
Sam and Larry often went to Moe’s Tavern together. 

They were not the most popular faces in Springfield. They both were acquaintances with more friendly people. Homer Simpson, for instance. Lenny Leonard. Carl Carlson. They met each other over in Moe’s, but didn’t know each other very well. (Lenny, Carl, and Homer knew each other, for the record - They just didn’t really know Sam and Larry.)

In Moe’s itself, a friend group had formed with Moe and those who visited it most. Those three mentioned earlier, Barney Gumble, and - of course- Moe Szyslak. Sam and Larry came pretty much as often as everyone else in that group, but weren’t really included in it. Neither of them ever bothered to ask why.

Sam and Larry both had families to attend to. Sam didn’t have kids, but he was married. He had a relatively stable source of income working at a Target. Larry was a single father - two kids. They understood each others’ plights. 

Larry wasn’t as stable as Sam. He’d take up odd jobs. At some points, he’d be working two, maybe three at a time. At some points, he’d be working none at all. Sam wasn’t rich or anything, but they were good friends, and he was willing to give Larry some cash when he needed it. Larry was the worse-off of the two, after all, and he had a bigger family to care for - and care for them he did. He had a big heart.

Sometimes, Sam would tell Larry how he wished he had kids too - this usually happened after a few drinks, though he did discuss it with his spouse. Larry would laugh and say, “Only if I get to take your better half!” Sometimes, he’d just shrug. Sam was the more talkative of the two.

Sam was growing increasingly dissatisfied with his job, but wasn’t sure if he could look to any better ones. He guessed it was better than nothing. Maybe, he thought, it was a good thing he didn’t have kids after all. 

Recently, he and his spouse were getting along less and less. No actual full-on fights had started yet, but things were getting uncomfortable - and Sam had to wonder. He didn’t have a good feeling about it. But, he supposed, he never really had a good feeling about anything anymore. One long night at Moe’s, he offered to move in with Larry and help take care of the kids if the whole marriage thing really did fall apart. He wasn’t sure what Larry thought of that. 

The two got drunk a lot - not much of a surprise. They both led lives which, at the moment, they both found miserable. They tried to keep it away from their families, at least, though sometimes that was hard. Thankfully, none of them were really angry drunks. Sam varied, though he tended to be the more fun variant. Larry was usually just sad. 

One day, Homer Simpson came into the bar during some sort of midlife crisis - wondering if any of the other barflies could be considered his soulmate.  
“I’m not your soulmate,” said Barney Gumble. “I’m really more of a chum.”  
“I’m a crony,” said Lenny.  
“I’d say acquaintance,” said Carl.  
“Colleague,” said Larry.  
“Sympathizer,” said Sam.

Another day, far later, Sam and Larry came to the bar at the same time. It was a dark night.  
Sam looked at Larry. “Hi, Larry.”  
Larry looked at Sam. “Hey, Sam.”They went inside, drowned their sorrows, and didn’t say a word to each other for the rest of the night.


	2. The Simpsons Christmas Reunion of [SOME YEAR]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in the future kinda Lisa's Wedding adjacent but I don't know if it matches up fully. Sorry if not! Maggie is like 15 here. Woohoo

3:00 PM

The bell rang.

“Bart’s here,” said Maggie.

No response.

“Bart’s here!” again. Louder this time.

Still nothing. Maggie said a few rude words to themselves and shuffled over to the door. Opened it.   
“Hey.”

Bart looked around for a few seconds before acknowledging the greeting, then returned a “Hey” back.   
“It smells really bad here.”

Maggie stepped back to let him in. “Sorry. Not my fault.”

“I can’t tell if it’s just because I haven’t been here in a while or if it’s actively gotten worse.”

“I dunno.” 

“Maybe it’s both-”

Again: “I dunno.”  
A little more annoyance in it this time.

...

...

...

“So,” said Maggie, a bit apologetic in tone. “Do you... wanna see Mom an’ Dad?”

“Oh!” for a second, Bart had forgotten why he actually came here. “Yeah, sure. Sure.”

And up they went.

A resounding chorus of “Bart!”s and laughter came from Homer and Marge as soon as Bart and Maggie were upstairs.

“Hey, Mom! Hey, Homer!” said Bart, and hugged them both as fast as he could.

Maggie watched. Maggie looked. Maggie didn’t say anything.

7:00 PM

Marge set the food on the table with a clank. “We’re really so glad you two could make it. It’s been so long since we’ve seen you, it still feels so lonely here without you!”

She’d been telling Bart for 4 hours and Lisa for 2 how glad she was to see them, but this certainly didn’t deter her from saying it again... and again... and again.

“Yeah,” chimed in Homer, “Feels like it’s been a million years!”

Marge continued, “I just hope it wasn’t too much trouble getting here!” 

Lisa gave that little nervous laugh of hers. “Oh, really, i-it’s nothing.”

“Yeah, Mom,” Bart said and shoveled food onto his plate. “You still worry about us too much, man. Take a load off.”

Marge shrugged.

The clattering of silverware took over for a few minutes.

...

Homer broke the silence: “So... How have you been doing?”

“Oh, y’know...” Bart waved his hand around a little bit. “Been workin’ on law school. Got a new tattoo, forget if I showed it to you.”  
He rolled his sleeve up. A heart was on his shoulder - the word ‘MOTHER’ on top of it.

“Oh, isn’t that cute?!” Marge clasped her hands together before her expression suddenly changed to a more worried one. “But doesn’t it make you look like a little bit of a punk?”

Bart laughed. “I am a punk!”

A defensive, “I just don’t want anyone getting the wrong ideas, is all...” from Marge.

“Oh! Oh! I know what was bugging me! That’s the tattoo you tried to get when you were twelve!” Homer yelled.

Lisa replied, “Even better, he was eight!”

“No, no, no,” said Bart. “You’re both wrong. I was ten. I remember ‘cause it was, like, right before they announced they were making _Bonestorm_ , and that was the coolest thing in the world back then.”

Maggie stabbed at their food. “I didn’t remember you ever trying to get a tattoo.”

“Well, you still a baby back then, Maggie,” said Lisa. “And, oh, speaking of which, what have you been up to?”

Homer laughed. “Not much, she never comes out of her cave!”

Maggie winced a little. 

“T-they-- well--” said Marge. She sighed. “You know how teenagers are... B-but! They have been making friends. There’s this one fella you’re always hanging out with, Maggie, what was his name--?”

“Since when do you care about my friends?” was the only response.

Silence again. Only a few seconds this time, but enough to feel like a lifetime.

“Maggie,” said Marge. “You know we care about you!”

“I don’t know that.”

“Are we really going to do this? Are we-- are we really going to do this in front of everyone? Right before Christmas?”

Maggie shrugged. “I dunno. I guess so.”

“I love you, Maggie, I-- WE love you! And- and we try so hard for you, but--”

Maggie got up. No response. They pushed in their chair, put the dishes in the sink, and walked upstairs.

Again, there was silence.

“...Should anyone check on them?” Lisa pointed a finger at nowhere in particular.

Marge rubbed her temples. She didn’t respond.

“Oh, she’s just having a fit,” said Homer. “You know how it is.”

Marge looked up. Then down. A realization occurred. “Oh my God, Lisa, I just realized I forgot to make you a special dinner! I’m so sorry, I--”

“Oh, don’t worry, I only do it, like, 6 months a year now.”

“Really?” asked Bart. “Huh.”

“Easier to manage that way, I think.”

“Yeah,” said Bart. “Guess so.”

8:00 PM

Bart creaked the door open.   
“Hey.”

Maggie was lying still under the covers. Facing away from him.

“I know you’re not asleep, man.”

No reaction.

“C’mon.”

After a few seconds, they turned around. “What is it?”

Bart opened the door a little wider and started to walk in. “What’s going on?”

“You know. You saw it.” Maggie started to sit up, still keeping the blanket on themselves. 

Bart sighed. “Well, I need more context than that, dude.”

No reaction, again. Bart cautiously approached the bed. Still getting nothing, he sat down. “Please?”

Maggie slowly turned to look at him.

“Did they care about you?” they asked.

Bart adjusted his position. “Yeah. Yeah, they did, and I can promise you they did, little dude. But-- but I know where you’re coming from, because--”

Maggie let out a dry sob. 

Then, tears.

“Whoa!” said Bart. “Hey, man, hey, it’s gonna be alright.”

Almost without trying to, Maggie collapsed into their brother’s arms.

“It’s--it’s good to cry sometimes, I think. Let it out. Let it out.” Bart had no idea if his attempts at comfort were working.

A few moments passed of nothing but Maggie sobbing into Bart’s arms. 

“They cared about me,” Bart brought back his previous thought. “And they care about you. But they’ve got... They’ve got weird minds. We all do. We’re all messed up.”

...

He continued. “I’m not gonna-- not gonna pretend like it’s a good thing, ‘cause it’s not. But I guess it’s not always, like, a bad thing.”

...

“And, y’know, we’re all special. Sounds stupid. But we are. Special and unique and all that. And, uh, nobody else is special. By the way. Just us. We’re like, the chosen ones, and you gotta go on a quest to destroy evil wizards.”

...

“I was kinda hoping you would laugh at that. Sorry. But, uh, y’know. Y’know... Well... What I’m trying to say, is. What I’m trying to say... They love you. They love you more than you’ll ever really know, kiddo. But they don’t always know how to show it. I guess I don’t know what all’s going on, but I can promise you that I’ve had a million billion horrible experiences with them, but after it’s all said and done, I, uh. I know they love me. 

...

“And I wish I could go back into the past with a cool time machine and be, all. ‘Hey, little past me. Did you know your parents love you?’ And he would be, all... uh... ‘No way.’ He would say that, but deep down, he would be thinking. Yes way.”

...

“Can you talk to me?”

Maggie sniffled and lifted up their head. They wiped their nose. “Y-y-yeah. Thanks.”

“I hope you know everything I say was true. Not... not the wizard stuff. Well. Yeah. But everything else.”

“I--” Maggie paused for a second. “Yeah.”

There they sat.

Maggie spoke up again. “Can I ask you something?”

Bart wanted to say that they already did, but instead just nodded.

“Everyone always that stuff like this gets better, but-- but does it really?” asked Maggie.

Bart sighed. He took a moment thinking of what to say. Then: “Well... it does. But it’s not a straight line, you know. It’s like... A big squiggle.”

Maggie repeated after him. “A big squiggle.”

They both looked down for a little bit. Maybe a few minutes, maybe an hour - neither could be sure.

The silence finally broke. 

“Goodnight, Bart,” said Maggie.

“Goodnight, Maggie,” said Bart.


End file.
